Right whale death

The death of a newborn right whale found on January 10th near St. Augustine, USA, has cast a pall over what scientists are calling an excellent calving season. North Atlantic right whales, identified by their bumpy white head patches and the V-shaped pattern of their blows, have made their annual migration to Georgia and Florida waters to bear and nurse their young.

The calving season lasts from December to March. 2005 produced 28 babies (the record is 31), and this season has seen nine confirmed births, and one confirmed death."Every time we think we have good news we have bad news," said Sharon Young, a marine mammal specialist with the Humane Society of the United States.

The dead whale calf, about 15 feet long, was discovered by fishermen."It's a newborn calf," said Scott Landry, a whale researcher with the Center for Coastal Studies in Provincetown, Mass. "There's a certain amount of natural mortality in calves," and though the animal's body is damaged, Landry said, "we can't tell if it's pre or post-mortem."

Young said according to reports she's received, the animal's injuries "appeared consistent with propeller strikes." In November 2005, The Humane Society filed suit against the National Marine Fisheries Service, challenging the agency's denial of a petition for emergency action to protect right whales against ship strikes. A team of right whale experts and scientists from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute will necropsy the calf today.

Right whales, a severely endangered species numbering fewer than 350, generally spend their summers off the coast of New England and Nova Scotia. By December, the females and some juveniles arrive at the calving grounds off the coast of Georgia and Florida. Ship strikes and entanglements are not uncommon during their migrations. A month ago a young whale was discovered off the coast of Georgia wrapped in several hundred feet of line. A team of scientists led by the Center for Coastal Studies managed to remove all but some 30 feet of that line in two disentanglement attempts, the first off the coast of Daytona Beach.

On December 14, after a second disentanglement attempt off Cape Hatteras, N.C., the team lost the telemetry buoy attached to the whale. It has not been sighted since, "which is not too unusual as whales go," said Landry. The center's scientists are hoping for an opportunistic sighting, Landry said.

Anyone within the USA sighting a right whale around this area is encouraged to call the Northern Right Whale Monitoring program at (888) 97WHALE (94253).

source:Daytona Beach News-Journal/Associated Press